Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417
AMHERST, Mass.-The Amherst College Department of Theater and Dance will present Dance in Dialogue, a festival of performances, panel discussions and workshops, as part of the 25th anniversary of the Five College Dance Department. Events will take place Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11 and 12, at Kirby Theater and in Webster Hall at the college.
A highlight of the festival will be a concert at Kirby Theater on Feb. 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. featuring new works by Five College alumni choreographers, directors and designers now working professionally throughout the U.S. and Europe. In this multi-media concert audiences will experience a rich variety of different worlds created on stage and in the lobby by an exciting mix of cutting-edge alumni artists.
New York choreographer Yanira Castro and Co. (Amherst College Class of '93 and recent recipient of the prestigious Rockefeller MAP award) will present the premiere of (fetus)twin, a movement installation for two dancers (Smith College alumnae Pam Vail and Nancy Ellis). Liam O'Rourke (Amherst '00) designed the costumes, and Julie Wyman (Amherst '93) created the film installation.
Mount Holyoke alumna Jelena Petrovic, a professional choreographer, writer and teacher living and working in Amsterdam, will premier Vestibule, a duet for man and woman. Professional Los Angeles film costume designer Dana Woods (Amherst '86) designed the costumes for Petrovic.
New York performance artist Lisa Biggs (Amherst '93) will perform excerpts from a new piece, titled Iona Flys Away, created in collaboration with Tanisha Christie. Costume design is by New York designer Anne Kenney (Amherst '95)
Cristina Septien (Amherst '01), artistic director of the Brooklyn-based South Pleasant Company (which originated during her Amherst undergraduate days), is the writer and director/choreographer of B.T.T.F, featuring performances by Matt Moses (Amherst '02), Emily Alpren (Amherst '02) and Marina Libel (Amherst '01).
Acclaimed New York actor, dancer, choreographer and writer Peter Schmitz (Smith College MFA) will bring his zany and poignant senses of humor and pathos to Kirby Theatre with a solo created for (and in collaboration with) New York dancer Paul Matteson titled I Simply Live Now.
Karrine Keithley and Sara Smith will present a sound/image installation in the lobby of Kirby as part of the concert. Both Hampshire College alums now living in Brooklyn, these two artists will construct Cabinet, an installation of the artifacts of two dances: Works on Paper: A Report on Imaginary Architecture and Tenderenda.
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